Gorbachev warns Congress against NATO expansion

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev warned NATO against treating Russia the way victorious allies severely restrained Germany after World War I.

"You cannot humiliate a people without consequences," he told members of Congress on Tuesday.During the first meeting of a bipartisan group seeking to prevent nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, Gorbachev locked his focus on NATO and cautioned lawmakers about its expansion.

It would be a mistake to expand NATO unless the alliance agreed to hold back nuclear weapons and combat troops from new member countries, he said.

"The whole idea is wrong . . . a bad mistake," Gorbachev said.